Clusters of advertising boards have become a familiar sight around Ludlow’s historic town centre. These double-sided boards, known in the trade as ‘A’ Boards, have mushroomed around the town in recent years. Besides being unsightly, they are hazardous to pedestrians, particularly those with impaired vision, wheelchair users and of course parents with pushchairs.

Roads around Ludlow town centre are not wide boulevards. Indeed, in places they are fairly narrow and space is at a premium. Yet proprietors continue to ply their wares by blatantly placing these boards where they cause difficulties for pedestrians who frequently have to step into the road when faced with somebody approaching from the opposite direction.

I am sure that South Shropshire District Council has the powers to regulate the use and positioning of ‘A’ Boards. In fact I would be interested to know that in the event of sustaining a personal injury, caused directly or indirectly, as the result of an advertising board being erected on the public highway, what the legal position is and who is responsible - is the shopkeeper liable for placing it there or the SSDC for allowing it to remain there?

A ‘mole’ informs me that this issue has been raised at various council meetings on a number of occasions. But with so many businesses represented on local council committees the matter is always suppressed. It seems that there is a reluctance to antagonise the business community – I wonder why!

I raise this issue solely on the grounds of health and safety. It is only a matter of time before somebody is badly injured as a result of these ‘A’ Boards being scattered around the public highway.

Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council banned A boards a few years ago. After a rough start with some traders ignoring the new rule, the town centre seems to be cleared of them now.

Planning permission is required in Shrewsbury for A-boards, I believe, and there may well be by-laws prohibiting the obstruction of the highway.